"This punk thing is getting on my nerves. Punk rock right now is pretty much the mainstream, everybody wants to be punk rock, everybody writes punk rock on their flags and wears weird haircuts and studded belts but still they're nothing more than yuppies. It's just a trend, and actually, I hate trends."

Sitting in a litter strewn Mute Records meeting room (that appears to double up as a company smoking room) German electropunk rising star T Raumschmiere is polite as he lays into those he considers fakes.

"Punk rock is in your head, it doesn't relate to what you're wearing or what your haircut is like. It's about your attitude and your daily business, the way you deal with your life, that's where I put the punk rock. You don't have to have green hair to be a punk."

Raumschmiere himself looks scruffy rather than punk, though his Berlin squat scene background and long term aversion to proper jobs ('I never learned how to do a real job) mean he's amply qualified to discuss DIY culture.

"If I should tell you my negative aspects, I'm ignorant, arrogant and egotistical," he admits.

"I don't care if the audience dances or not, I don't care if there are five of them or five thousand, I just do my thing and leave."

However, with his recent Miss Kittin collaboration The Game Is Not Over storming electro dancefloors and the upcoming release of his highly diverse electro-punk record Radio Blackout equally anticipated, Raumschmiere's likely to feeding 5,000s more and more in the ensuing months.

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Does Radio Blackout have any particular concept as an album?

T Raumschmiere: "Actually it's just ten tracks, the album doesn't have one sound or one concept, the concept was to have no concept. That's my daily approach to life; to just see what happens. So when I started on the album I just came up with ideas, jammed and recorded in the studio, ended up with 15 tracks which I then started working on, editing, cutting and throwing things in and out. The intention was to make music I liked, I didn't want to make a straight techno album, for example."

Skrufff: How much do you identify with techno?

T Raumschmiere: "The first thing I said to Novamute when I met them was 'I don't want to be a techno artist, I want to make music'. They said 'OK, yes, do whatever you like'. I don't really come from a techno background, I come from punk rock, I used to play in punk rock bands. I started with electronic music in the mid90s when everybody was already over techno. My music has a punk spirit and that's how I work on it, when you hear the arrangement of the tracks, they'll sometimes remind you of punk- it's more about songs than tracks or DJ tools."

Skrufff: How does following a punk spirit affect the way you live your life?

T Raumschmiere: "I live my life without bowing to authority, I don't have a job, I can't deal with authority, actually. I try to make everything I do in life different. There is always an alternative way to do something, even for common things."

Skrufff: You've been making music as T Raumschmiere for six years now, how hard was it to get by in the early days, without working?

T Raumschmiere: "It was super-hard, I never learned how to do a real job. After school I did the Civil Service thing, instead of National Service. In Germany you can work in a hospital instead of the army, for example, so I did that for a year. After that I didn't have anybody to give me money but I didn't want to get a job so I played and played and worked on my music- it was really hard. When you're a nobody you get no money when you perform so you just have to offer yourself and play for free until people start recognising you."

Skrufff: Are you from East or West Berlin?

T Raumschmiere: "Neither, I'm from Heidelberg in the South of Germany, I moved to Berlin six years ago. Berlin is a pretty unique place for Germany and maybe even for Europe because you find so much creativity there and so many people working on different projects. The good thing about Berlin is that everybody respects each other and work together and feature each other, there's a big family vibe going on there. There's a good scene."

Skrufff: You've come a long way from being a complete unknown, did you have one particular big break?

T Raumschmiere: "There were quite of lot of breaks, and a good thing was that I didn't go through an overnight change. I've been working on my music for years and it's been growing steadily. Of course, special people and special events changed some things and gave me more attention, especially various festivals. Signing to Novamute also changed things quite a lot. Daniel (Miller, Mute's big chief- music business Ed) saw a show I did in Berlin almost two years ago then he called me."

Skrufff: Mute is now effectively EMI, does that pose any problems for you?

T Raumschmiere: "No, I don't give a shit about that. Of course, we can talk about the policies of major labels and EMI in general but it's just a business like any other business, I don't see the mainstream or the major labels as the mainstream or the evil enemy."

Skrufff: Many of Berlin's squatters are anarchists and anti-corporate, is there a political element to what you're doing?

T Raumschmiere: "Of course, everything you do is political, you can't do a non political record even if you say you're anti-politics that's still a political position. Everything has a political aspect and my aspect is to try to give the people another way of looking at things, to mix up things you'd never expect. I want to offer alternatives and try to open people's minds."

Skrufff: One of your songs is called 'I'm Not Deaf, I'm Ignoring You', how's your hearing?

T Raumschmiere: "It's OK though I'm really surprised nothing has happened to me because I've been playing the drums for 10 years."

Skrufff: Do you ignore many people?

T Raumschmiere: "Yeah, definitely. If I should tell you my negative aspects, I'm ignorant, arrogant and egotistical. Yeah. I don't care if the audience dances or not, I don't care if there are five of them or five thousand, I just do my thing and leave."

Skrufff: How did Miss Kittin enter the frame?

T Raumschmiere: "We met at a show in Berlin actually, it was a funny story because we were playing at a party which wasn't actually very good. I was supposed to pay then Caroline, Miss Kittin, took my slot, she went up the DJ booth and started playing. I was like 'That bitch, I'm going to fucking kill her and kick her out', we didn't know each other at that point. Whe she finished, I got up on stage and was giving her really nasty looks then I played. She wanted to leave because the party wasn't good but she stayed right through my set then came up to me afterwards and said 'What the fuck was that? That was crazy.' So we met, started talking and somehow we decided to do a track together."

T Raumschmiere's new album Radio Blackout is available now on Novamute.

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